Shellfish lovers bummed by crackdown on Marin oyster oasis

Tomales Bay Oyster Company manager Martin Seiler cradles a freshly shucked Pacific oyster in Marshall, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The popular spot on the eastern shore of Tomales Bay is being to forced to close down its picnic areas by Marin County citing a concern for parking and traffic issues along Highway 1. less

Tomales Bay Oyster Company manager Martin Seiler cradles a freshly shucked Pacific oyster in Marshall, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The popular spot on the eastern shore of Tomales Bay is being to forced to ... more

Tomales Bay Oyster Company manager Martin Seiler cradles a freshly shucked Pacific oyster in Marshall, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The popular spot on the eastern shore of Tomales Bay is being to forced to close down its picnic areas by Marin County citing a concern for parking and traffic issues along Highway 1. less

Tomales Bay Oyster Company manager Martin Seiler cradles a freshly shucked Pacific oyster in Marshall, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The popular spot on the eastern shore of Tomales Bay is being to forced to ... more

Mollusk lovers around the Bay Area are rallying to the defense of a popular oyster farm in Marin County that is being forced to halt picnicking and turn away the public after the county accused the establishment of violating its permit.

Tomales Bay Oyster Co. on Highway 1 has become a go-to place for families and day-trippers, who come from far and wide to slurp up the fresh shellfish and enjoy picturesque Tomales Bay, but a quirk of fate recently alerted Marin County planners that the company had far outgrown limitations on its permit.

A cease and desist order was issued Sept. 16 giving the oyster farm 30 days to remove picnic tables and barbecue grills, cut its hours of operation from seven days to three days a week, and reduce staffing from 20 to eight employees.

“It was a shock because we had been working with them,” said Tod Friend, the company’s majority owner.

The order means Friend will have to begin turning away as many as 500 people a day, many of whom have been venturing to the rustic bayside location for decades. He said he will remain open until Oct. 11, then begin removing the picnic tables and grills the next day.

Friend has written letters to county supervisors and the community development agency seeking leniency, while customers have been circulating an online petition urging the county to allow the unique haven to remain open while a new permit is being negotiated.

“I think it’s awful that this might not be going on any longer, it’s so beautiful,” said Jeanie Cadiz, 30, who was sucking down oysters Friday while her husband, Chris, shucked them in celebration of their fifth wedding anniversary. “It’s better than a five-star restaurant.”

‘People will still come here’

Few of the visitors who arrived in cars and vans Friday to enjoy the slithery creatures on a brilliant sunny day — a good number armed with their own sauce bottles — understood exactly what the problem was. Some assumed it was a pollution problem and were angry when they learned the closures were over the company’s permit.

“I’m 100 percent against this place closing,” said Kenneth Choo, 24, who was with a party of 13 LinkedIn employees on a staff bonding trip. “This place brings people together. If it’s just because of a regulation saying they can’t have picnic tables, then everybody loses.”

Mike Oda, who came with his family for a picnic, said things will be even worse without the benches and grills.

“People will still come here for oysters and people will still picnic, but you are going to see things dumped everywhere — garbage, shells,” he said. “They will be going other places along the shore and trashing them.”

As he looked out along the shoreline to the bay glittering in the sunshine, he said, “This is controlled. They do a good job here keeping it clean. That won’t happen if they close this place.”

Tomales Bay Oyster Co. is in the quiet town of Marshall. It was, until recently, an insular community where loners and eccentrics often hid out and publicity-shy old salts tended to their boats.

It was still like that in 2009 when Friend bought the operation. But the recession had just ended and business was soon booming.

Negotiations over permit

Friend said he added more picnic tables and grills. Soon, families and groups of friends were coming from all over the Bay Area, and cars were parked all along Highway 1.

The county was alerted to the problem two years ago when a local complained about a theater group that performed one day at the site. County officials looked at the permit and discovered the restrictions.

The two sides have been negotiating ever since over a new application. The county issued the cease and desist order after Friend’s decision, last month, to withdraw the application and submit a new one.

“Unfortunately, the Tomales Bay Oyster Company’s proposal to retroactively legalize their expanded operation was not supportable because it presented a significant threat to public safety and welfare,” wrote Curtis Havel, the senior planner for the Marin County Community Development Agency, referring to the parking and crowd issues.